I just got a replacement GSM unlocked from Palm - "Advanced Exchange" my a**. Old Treo had a bad keyboard. New replacement seems to work fine, but down on the 5-way is not very strong. Left right and up feel much more solid.

Man this weak down directional is just bugging me! I know I'm being anal-retentive, but Cingular unlocked Treo I got last November is still clicking strong.

It may be that the "newer" Treo's are like this. I bought a new Roger's (Canada) GSM Treo 650 last December, and noticed the weak down directional right away.

I checked this with a few people who also have recently purchased the 650 and it's the same. I thought it may have been a Roger's problem, but sounds like it may affect more than 1 carrier.

Very good to know. It's usable, but the funny thing is the 650 I got when they launched with AT&T back in '04 was like this, couldn't find a good one (plus it had other issues) and I returned it. When I got my Cingular one last November it wasn't like it, it's still got a strong down-directional click. I still wonder if they're recycling older models and used 'em for Black Ties.

What sucks about the Advanced Exchange (or any exchange really) is that you get a refurbished Treo, but dont get any additional warranty. For example, I bought my first Treo for full price last October. I exchanged it in July because the keyboard died. They sent me a refurbished one with the aforementioned down arrow issue. Once my original warranty runs out in October 2006 I am SOL if there are any issues with the refurbished unit. My original one worked fine until the keyboard suddenly died after 9 months. Assuming the keyboard on the refurbished one dies after 9 months as well, I will be outside my warranty period when it dies (im predicting) in March 2007. I think we should get another one year warranty starting from the date you get the refurbished unit. The damn things just dont last. Yes, I take very good care of mine.

Palm called me today to see if I got my new Black Tie. I talked with a very nice gentleman on the phone, and let him know of the weak "click" when Pressing down on the Navigator. He noted it in my account (Yea, he could have just said he was, but I tend to trust this guy since I've dealt with him before). We'll see how it plays out.

rbenjami: Are you in the continential US? I didn't pay anything for advanced exchange, but then again I had sent my unit in before.